Maybe the use of the term “police state” is a bit overwrought. The US isn’t one right now (but we certainly are a surveillance society). But every time I see a story like this, or this, I’m reminded that we’re slouching toward that police state. What did I just link? Well, the first was about this program, which Cory Doctorow has appropriately recognized as “facecrime“:
TSA screeners are learning to recognize set of secret, forbidden facial expressions. If your face slips into one of these during a TSA inspection, you will be taken off and given a thorough, secondary screening
[ . . . ]
TSA officials will not reveal specific behaviors identified by the program — called SPOT (Screening Passengers by Observation Technique) — that are considered indicators of possible terrorist intent.
But a central task is to recognize microfacial expressions — a flash of feelings that in a fraction of a second reflects emotions such as fear, anger, surprise or contempt, said Carl Maccario, who helped start the program for TSA.
Now, I don’t believe for a second that a few days of training (which is all they’re getting) is going to turn any of the TSA employees I’ve ever met into someone capable of making that judgment. But that’s really not the point of this program (or the public announcement of it). The point is twofold – first, to continue the security theater efforts at making the public feel like the government is doing something to keep them safe, and second, to continue to keep the public fearful enough that it doesn’t object to the first. Impressively self sustaining, no?
The second story, however, is my favorite. It can be summed up with this picture:
This is part of the FBI’s new digital billboard alert program. And you can see how it checks off all the requirements, just in this picture alone. It’s attention catching, it’s got the scary brown man with a vaguely Arabic name, and it reminds you that there are bad people out there who will hurt you.  Whoever picked this out as an example surely has a fine career ahead of him or her.
These billboards are not just going to be fancy versions of the old post office wanted posters. No, they’re going to actively participate in your life:
Billboards will also be used to display “high security messages to relevant communities” and the FBI also plans to establish a “protocol” for high priority “hot pursuit” messages to run straight after crimes are committed.
I feel safer already. You?